USC ready to come out firing

When the South Carolina men's basketball team takes the floor today to practice for the first time this season, don't expect a Norman Dale-like workout.

The fictional coach from the movie "Hoosiers" wouldn't let his high school team touch a basketball in their first practice, much less work on shooting.

For these 2011-12 Gamecocks, it might be the complete opposite.

"Obviously we've got to shoot the ball better," said coach Darrin Horn, who's entering his fourth season at USC. "You could've watched your first basketball game last year and known that with our team."

The Gamecocks, who finished 14-16 overall and 5-11 in league play last year, shot an SEC-worst 39.5 percent from the field and connected on just 31.3 percent of their 3-point attempts.

"We can shoot the ball better," Horn said. "I think that's going to come through us doing a better job of coaching, but we have a team that's a little bit more about our shot selection. We have to understand we've got to play inside-out more. We've got to move the basketball collectively better."

Gone is center Sam Muldrow, who averaged 11.4 points per game, and guard Ramon Galloway, who put up 10.7 points per contest but transferred in the offseason. The only other returning player who averaged double digits is scoring leader Bruce Ellington (12.8), but he's playing football right now and won't join the hoops squad until probably January.

"I think the only way to get better (offensively) is to work on it," said senior forward Malik Cooke, who put up 9.4 points per game but made nearly 45 percent of his shots last year. "We definitely did that. I got a lot of jumpers up in the offseason and tried to get better in that area."

Horn hopes some adjustments will also help, and timing could go a long way in his team improving upon its 67.6 points per game from last year.

"A key shot at the right time can change a player's game, can transform the momentum in a game," he said. "There were a lot of times last year our (defensive) press was really effective and we forced turnovers and we'd get a lot of open shots and it wouldn't go in. If one of those goes in and you set your press who knows what happens."

And until Ellington returns, a lot of pressure to get players in position falls on sophomore point guard Eric Smith, who said a successful offense is about sharing the ball, playing with good tempo, and executing what Horn's wants.

"As a point guard it's definitely my job to make the offense run a lot smoother and just make it easier for other guys around me to just be in position to make shots," Smith said. "If that happens then everybody can buy into that and everybody can share the ball and we get easier, open shots."

Horn believes the addition of three freshmen will also make a difference: former J.L. Mann standout and 6-foot-5 shooter Damien Leonard, 5-11 guard and Kissimmee, Fla., native Brenton Williams and 6-8 Charlotte, N.C., native Anthony Gill.

"Every new player is a good shooter, two of which are outstanding, Damien Leonard and Brenton Williams," he said. "Anthony Gill's that rare 6-8 guy that is a basketball player, extremely skilled. He's got a high basketball IQ. He can play inside and out."

Other returning threats include Lakeem Jackson, a slasher that had trouble making much outside 5 feet last season; R.J. Slawson, another 6-8 guy who can pop out for jumpers; and Brian Richardson, a sophomore who started hot last year from 3-point range but struggled down the stretch.

"What we have to do is what's best for our personnel, what puts us in the best opportunity to win the game," Horn said. "We have to make strides offensively."